Santas and Merry Christmas

Thought you would enjoy a look at some of our Santas and other photos on this lovely Christmas day. Merry Christmas to all of you.

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Fellow Blogger- Hartwood Roses

A fellow blogger is posting from " The World According to Mr. Rogers" book. She is on day 2 of this series and what a clever idea. She stated she found the book for a quarter.
Her blog is at Hartwood Roses. Feel free to visit it.

Updated Harvest

We had a cold snap last night and so I went out to pick lettuce and chard. They did fine. But I am glad I brought in my Meyer Lemon.

Last Of Tomatoes

Yep, this looks like this is it for the tomatoes from the garden. I must

 say it has been a good year for this delicious vegetable or is it a fruit?

State of Garden

Last night I took a tour of the garden and it is very apparent that Fall is here. So I decided to pick a bunch of zinnias to preserve Summer, at least for awhile. Nice.

Eastern Redbud Tree Planted

We had 2 trees taken down in the back which left a big open space to be filed in. I love redbud trees and found just the right one this weekend. I a very picky when it comes to these trees. I usually want at least 3 branches and a nice upright shape. Well I found the perfect specimen and it now has been planted. Hopefully it will do well.

Fall is the effect time to plant a tree around here. Here is hoping that we will get some flowers on it next Spring.

Photos of the Garden

I have been very remiss in posting photos of the garden. I am already harvesting my second planting of green and yellow beans. Last year I tried to plant a second round of beans and the bugs went after the leaves. This year has been very successful. Frankly this has been a good year, except the eggplant did not do so well. Can't have everything

 It has been a great year for tomatoes, but I would not grow Mr. Stripey again. Mr. Stripey just did not produce.

I also tried Kellogg's breakfast, but it just was not very tastey
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 Ah, the Meyer Lemon is loaded with blossoms. Hopefully, that will mean lots of lemons.

One of my three eggplant. Last year I had a bumper crop.

Zinnias are one of my favorites. They just sing of summer.

Bumper crop of round two of beans and  lettuce and round one of kale.

 Basil has been unbelievable. So far I have 16 packets of pesto frozen and I could probably make another 6 at least.

I know this is not the greatest photo of my tomato plants. But they are at least 6 feet tall. I planted 4 plants in one 4x8 foot raised bed.

Listening to KFBK radio Re: Earthquake impact Napa area

Listening to KFBK radio concerning the earthquake's impact in the Napa area. Typically I listen to Farmer Fred on KFBK for great gardening advice every Sunday. Sounds as if the area was pretty hard hit, but they are saying if it was going to hit, it was better to hit in the morning instead of during the day when everyone is out.

I love the Napa area: such a wonderful place.

Stink Bugs and Tomatoes

I have had a good crop of tomatoes so far this year. Pictures will be coming soon. However, what I saw today was a first for me. Stink bugs seem to have landed on my tomatoes. I was able to knock them down and smash them. But I have never had to deal with them before in the garden. Makes me wonder if we will have them in the house this winter. I hope not.

Apples

We built our house on land that used to be an apple orchard. There is one apple tree left and I learned the hard way to pick up the apples that fell to the ground. One year I waited too long and went out to to clean up the apples on the ground. However, they had all disappeared. I thought that was great. Not so. The deer had decided to devour them and would come back for more. Unfortunately, the more included, hostas, roses, and other fine plants. Once deer establish a path, it can become challenging to change their habits. I now spray the plants with deer repellant and the apples get disposed of ASAP.

Happy Fourth of July and Garden Update

Below is my first harvest of green and yellow beans which we plan to have this evening. The garden continues to do exceptionally well.

Carrots from the garden for tonight's dinner.

Of course one has to have homemade red velvet cupcakes. They are a tradition on the Fourth.

Tour of The Garden and Garlic

There is only one thing worse than harvesting garlic too early and it is when you harvested it too late. So I decided to dig up one bulb to see what was happening with my garlic. All I can say is that this bulb is one big bulb. I planted Music and Siberian late last fall. Looks like I will be harvesting much of the rest of the crop in about a week and the balance the week after that.

The trial bulb of harvested garlic and a couple of scapes.

Basil and I am planning to make pesto this weekend.

Eggplant

Although not the best photo, this is the first year that I have been able to grow sweet peas with success.

Tomatoes are looking good.

More tomatoes.

Garlic and beans in the background.

Cabbages and carrots.

More garlic.

An empty area in our yard where we had English Ivy pulled up and 2 trees taken down. Hint: in my opinion do not plant English Ivy unless you want to really put the effort into controlling it. Our landscape designer years ago thought it was a good idea and I really did not know any better back then. The good news is that I will probably plant Mohawk Viburnums, Knockout Roses and Daylilies here.

 Below is a perennial bed. Pretty and easier to maintain than the English Ivy.

Harvest Monday -Rosemary

I decided to make garlic and rosemary roasted chicken tonight. I used the rosemary from the garden. What a wonderful herb- love the aroma. As far as the chicken, I use thighs, and thinly slice a couple cloves of garlic. Next I drizzle olive oil over the chicken thighs. I toss the garlic in with them and place the rosemary on the bottom of the baking dish with a little more olive oil. Then I lay the chiken on top of it, along with the garlic. Bake at 350 until done , which is usually 35 - 45 minutes.

Recipe for Scapes- Scape carbonara

Well I made scape carbonara tonight for dinner and I must say that it was delicious.  Click here for the recipe. It takes a couple of eggs and 4 slices of bacon. Use really good Romano cheese. I found the recipe at the blog, Sarah Cucina Bella and Saveur magazine had featured it.      

Tomatoes

I was out weeding and working in the garden and guess what. I have a few green Roma tomatoes. The garden is doing so well this year, I hope it contines in that direction.


The scapes are about ready and I usually use them in stir fry, but if anyone has a better idea on how to use garlic scapes I would love to hear about it.

Photos From The Garden

So far this year the garden is doing exceptionally well. Here are a few photos taken today. All of the radishes have ben harvested and I plan to plant more basil and swiss chard tomorrow.

My first meyer lemon this year.

Basil

 Various lettuce

 Eggplant

Tomatoes

More tomatoes

 

 

Cabbages

 

 Garlic

 

Basil

I planted my basil this evening, and last night the bean seeds were sown. This spring has been so cool, the lettuce has taken off and so have the cabbages. I do not recall such a cool and at times a rainy spring. However, I have had my tomatoes in for a couple of weeks and they have even grown twice their size.

I hope my garden continues to head in this direction. But who knows what Mother Nature may bring next month.

Tomatoes Are In

I know it s a bit risky to  plant tomatoes to their permanent bed this early in southern Ohio, but the long term forecast looks good. So I went ahead and planted them in the raised beds and large pots. My cabbages by the way are doing great. Frankly everything is doing well- lettuce, carrots, radishes, garlic has really taken off. The garlic is more than 2 feet tall.

Fig Tree

Just came in from planting the Chicago Hardy Fig and I noticed that it has 2 figs on the tree.  I am hoping that the deer stay away from it. However, I still enstalled fencing around it until it is much larger. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we get figs and if anyone has tips for growing figs, I would love to hear from you.

First Harvest to What Else is Coming Up in The Garden

                                                         First harvest of asparagus

                                                Spring and tulips are what it is all about.

                                              Will be planting a Chicago Hardy Fig.

                                       
                                               Lettuce

   

                       
                                                 Garlic

                                                Cabbages and radishes

Gardening Today

Sweat peas are in and I transplanted the cabbages also. I will post pictures in the near future. Hopefully the snow is gone for the season.

Raised Cedar Beds

The best raised cedar beds I have ever used come from  a family owned business. I cannot make them for the cost they sell them for.  The Farmstead raised garden beds are a breeze to put together and will last years. I just ordered another one since I had enough room for a 4x8 foot. I believe the Whie Flower Farm now sell their raised beds, but there is an up charge . So I go directly to the source.